Green Bay/Lake Michigan/Chicago

[iceman]

Do you two guys know each other at least?

[Mustonen]

Do you two guys know each other at least?

Not, like, biblically.

[iceman]

Good and good.

[mtnjam]

Taking momz to see her family in Iowa. I was born outside of Green Bay, I've never seen it because I was a surprise and they moved home 3 months later for parental support. No super compelling reason to go back other than "birthplace" Anyone else in that dynamic?

I'll be 4 hours away (8 round trip, not exactly next door), I could go see it, or Lake Michigan, or Chicago. I'm not much of a city tourist like that. Like oh you have to see this pizza joint on 5th street does nothing for me. What is seeing Lake Michigan from the West bank like? Monumental? Big puddle?

Yo UglyMoney with the wagons, wanna race one of them against my rental car?

What town, "near" Green Bay were you born? I know many of those small little "burgs" well. Lots of good food in some of those little mom and pop taverns. If you have a Friday night near there make sure you go to at least one of the Friday night fish frys. Good stuff. A name that comes to mind is a little place called "Happy Corners" tavern. Many smoky Friday nights there as a kid.

Lake Michigan ain't all that great unless you are out in the middle fishing for lake trout, but if you really want to see the lake go to Point Beach State Park and try not to glow in the dark. They do have cool sanddunes there though.

The beer selection in Wisconsin is getting better, but still not that great. There are a few small breweries in Green Bay (Titletown = OK beer) and one in my hometown, Appleton (Stone Cellar Brewing) which again is OK beer. Probably the best beer I've had is my parents' hometown, Merrill, which now has Sawmill Brewing in the old DNR HQ's. Go see Stan there and have some of his beers, he knows what he's doing with IPA's and others beers too for that matter.

If you are near LaCrosse, go check out City Brewery which used to be Old Style Brewing and eat at the Bodega.

Milwaukee = lived there for one year during my medical internship, didn't exactly like it all that much, but really didn't get out much except to the U of Milwaukee campus.

[ill-advised strategy]

Do you two guys know each other at least?

If we convince him to come to the bbiUtarr, you too can know the Mustonen.

[Tor-tour]

If you decide to travel a little father up the river Valley on a day or overnight there are some good restaurants in LaCrosse, and some good mountain biking or hiking up here as well. The leaves will be past their prime in a week or two, but the drive is beautiful along the scenic river road.

[mtnjam]

If you decide to travel a little father up the river Valley on a day or overnight there are some good restaurants in LaCrosse, and some good mountain biking or hiking up here as well. The leaves will be past their prime in a week or two, but the drive is beautiful along the scenic river road.

We used to ride all over Hixon forest poaching what we assumed was private property and we always enjoyed pissing off the country club people who thought the trails belonged to them, rode right from Wentz/Sanford Hall. Great times there.
Are the soccer ball trails still there? I think they renamed them as "Human Powered Trails" or something like that. No visit to LaCrosse would be complete without a visit to the Alpine Inn Tavern

[dunfree]

new glarus makes some solid beers in WI and you can only get them in WI. skip spotted cow, go for others.

[Grange]

What town, "near" Green Bay were you born? I know many of those small little "burgs" well. Lots of good food in some of those little mom and pop taverns. If you have a Friday night near there make sure you go to at least one of the Friday night fish frys. Good stuff. A name that comes to mind is a little place called "Happy Corners" tavern. Many smoky Friday nights there as a kid.

Lake Michigan ain't all that great unless you are out in the middle fishing for lake trout, but if you really want to see the lake go to Point Beach State Park and try not to glow in the dark. They do have cool sanddunes there though.

The beer selection in Wisconsin is getting better, but still not that great. There are a few small breweries in Green Bay (Titletown = OK beer) and one in my hometown, Appleton (Stone Cellar Brewing) which again is OK beer. Probably the best beer I've had is my parents' hometown, Merrill, which now has Sawmill Brewing in the old DNR HQ's. Go see Stan there and have some of his beers, he knows what he's doing with IPA's and others beers too for that matter.

If you are near LaCrosse, go check out City Brewery which used to be Old Style Brewing and eat at the Bodega.

Milwaukee = lived there for one year during my medical internship, didn't exactly like it all that much, but really didn't get out much except to the U of Milwaukee campus.

There are a lot more local breweries in the Green Bay area besides Titletown and they make some damn tasty beer. Hinterland has some good bourbon barrel beers and Badger State Brewery has some good beer in their tap room. Go east to Algoma and Ahnapee brewery has some great beer.

I like Green Bay, from Iowa I'd visit the driftless area before driving all the way to Green Bay. I lived in La Crosse for several years and there is some good mountain biking and some nice scenery.

[Harry]

Like someone ^^ said up thread, a fun and very scenic drive would be the river road up the Mississippi into Wisconsin. Part of the War of 1812 was fought in Prairie du Chein.

[Rideski]

Yeah I've been back to Iowa a few times but only for brief family visits. Moved to Denver when I was 5. Honestly not sure if I've ever seen the Mississippi, sounds fun and that vid on the driftless was interesting, watched the first 10 minutes, will watch the rest out there. Building ham sammiches now. They gave me a Fiesta instead of a Versa, so Money is gonna need to bring his money game.

[bigdude2468]

What town, "near" Green Bay were you born? I know many of those small little "burgs" well. Lots of good food in some of those little mom and pop taverns. If you have a Friday night near there make sure you go to at least one of the Friday night fish frys. Good stuff. A name that comes to mind is a little place called "Happy Corners" tavern. Many smoky Friday nights there as a kid.

Lake Michigan ain't all that great unless you are out in the middle fishing for lake trout, but if you really want to see the lake go to Point Beach State Park and try not to glow in the dark. They do have cool sanddunes there though.

The beer selection in Wisconsin is getting better, but still not that great. There are a few small breweries in Green Bay (Titletown = OK beer) and one in my hometown, Appleton (Stone Cellar Brewing) which again is OK beer. Probably the best beer I've had is my parents' hometown, Merrill, which now has Sawmill Brewing in the old DNR HQ's. Go see Stan there and have some of his beers, he knows what he's doing with IPA's and others beers too for that matter.

If you are near LaCrosse, go check out City Brewery which used to be Old Style Brewing and eat at the Bodega.

Milwaukee = lived there for one year during my medical internship, didn't exactly like it all that much, but really didn't get out much except to the U of Milwaukee campus.

IMO Stone Cellar is very average, same with Fox Brewing. Lots of small micro brews but living in Appleton for 30 years I found none of them to be anything special. Lakefront in Milwaukee makes some very good beers as does Capital Brewing in Madison. New Glarus is good and yea Spotted Cow is a cool name but doesn't match the hype.

Honestly I would take any of the SLC micros over what I had in WI

Skip the Friday night fish. Its a huge tradition and everyone has their favorite bar, restaurant or bowling ally for fish. When we moved to Appleton in the mid 80's we tried it a few times and decided its kind of silly. Honestly where do you think the frozen farm raised perch comes from? Its not being caught out back or in some lake "up north". Most of it comes from farming operations in Canada and the hundreds of small restaurants that serve it get the damn fish from the same place, Sysco, US Foods etc. Four pieces of deep fried perch with cole slaw and two slices of rye bread (no idea what the bread deal is) are not worth the effort. The best thing about Friday night fish would be the brandy old fashion.

[Mustonen]

Somehow this conversation has shifted to the WI beer scene. And while the state is steeped in beer tradition, their beer is generally well below average. Spotted cow is frickin gross. Some others can be tolerable, but if I’m spending time in WI (former in law family is in the GB area) I’m bringing my own beer. I don’t know why they’re so bad at it. But they are. Maybe smelling the fumes from the cheese factory all day messes up their taste?

Don’t go there for the beer.

ETA: the fish fry is a catholic thing. Most of the area was settled by Catholics. The lakes/fishing scene is incidental.

[Shredhead]

Hemisphere Bistro is probably the best place in the Quad Cities.
Kind of bummed that I know this.

[guroo270]

Clearly the best thing for you to do is go see the Musical Fountains in Grand Haven, then head to Holland Michigan to spook the kiddos with the Japanese Red BATS!!!! It'll really give you the feel of great things to do in the mid-west.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bCqsMkD35k

Edit: Also, Torch Lake, but that's probably too far away and the wrong time of year.

[guroo270]

Like someone ^^ said up thread, a fun and very scenic drive would be the river road up the Mississippi into Wisconsin. Part of the War of 1812 was fought in Prairie du Chein.

My dad bought an old Trojan boat in Kenosha, Wisconsin about 12 years ago and we drove it back to Nashville via the river system entering in Chicago. That was a pretty dope 12 day river excursion. Cool way to see the country.


...and his next one...

Which after this...


...became his last one.

[iceman]

His last one? Did he die? Sorry just wondering.

[Mustonen]

His last one? Did he die? Sorry just wondering.

Wow. Way to kill the thread.

[guroo270]

Not yet. He just doesn't want to completely redo another 42' custom wooden hull. And that boat froze and sank. $20k fine from the EPA to boot.

[Harry]

How does a boat freeze in Nashville ? And how does freezing make a boat sink ?

[guroo270]

It freezes here. What specifically happened, I'm unaware.

[iceman]

...how does freezing make a boat sink ?

Lots of ways. Pressure cracking the hull, ice in pump outlets blocking them, shaft or rudder getting ripped off allowing water in (inboard), too much weight up high from freezing rain, pump batteries dying from cold, etc. etc.

[ill-advised strategy]

The combination of strong wind and freezing spray can heavily load one side of the ship...that's a bad one.

[iceman]

You could hit a freakin iceberg.

[Rideski]

Grandad circa 1932


1934


The house his dad built, containing some of my earliest memories


Uncle did a little stint with the Marines, he likes guns










We went out to have some fun




Not the best, but unfamiliar guns I guess I was ok.
Got most of the .22 in the black (different target)
But the .40 and .45 long shell, not so much.
Kept it on the paper at least.


There's a super chill marsh nearby


And the Palisades were pretty, but iphone didn't do it justice.
The pretty cliff area was in shadows, so here's this one instead.


Apparently they are building a billion dollar bridge.


On the drive home needed a pit stop and saw a caterpillar


It was a long drive so I replenished essential nutrients